Our Lunch Outing and other Musings

Yesterday was our lunch outing with our vendor from Colorado. She was here on separate business, but wanted to lunch with us to discuss current relations. We opted for Romano's Macaroni Grill, which I haven't been to in years. My last visit was for my mother's birthday and she was none too pleased with her birthday tribute. You see, they sing your birthday song to you in Italian; the men sing it for women and the lady singers sing the song to men. Well, the gentelman who was slated to sing to my mother went on break or something, so she got this awful girl who sounded like a strangled cat. I haven't been back since, not because of the singing per se, but more because of the attitude we all had after the experience. It was too bad because the food is really good.

During our lunch date, the waiter at this location had the I.Q. of a squirrel. I began my drink order by asking for a shirley temple. Now, most people in the restaruant business have a clue, but this guy looked at me like I was asking for the atomic weight of arsenic.

"Uh, I don' t know what that is."
(What the hell...it's freakin' 7-up and grenadine. What's the problem? )

"It's 7-up and grenadine. Sometimes, bartenders add cherries for presentation," I said, with my best smile.

"7-up?"
(Oh, good God, man. What is the problem?)

"Maybe they don't have Pepsi products here," my co-worker "C" said.

"We have Coke products," says our waiter.

So that I woudn't stress our waiter out anymore than I already had, I asked for a plain Sprite. Geesh! I wonder if I'd had the same sort of difficulty if I'd been there at night and asked for a cocktail of some sort. Yeah, I'll definitely ask for a table not in his area the next time I'm there.

After that bit of drama, our lunch went really well. We talked about work, we talked about our families, we talked a bit about everything. It was really nice. Afterwards, we came back to the office and wished for cots and blankets. Something about Italian food always makes me want to go to sleep. It's comfort food at it's best, I think.

Work ended and I headed up the road to meet hubby and the babe at her school for parent-teacher conference night. The reports were glowing and I knew that we had made the best decision for our babe. Her teacher says she's testing well and really bright. She made only one comment about behavior, but let us know that she's really trying to do better. I mentioned the "young" factor and she agreed that it plays into effect for kids.

"Did you know that a boy who has just turned five before the start of the school year is about nine months behind? That's for most boys and they recommend that they hold them off until the following year."

The fact that boys were behind wasn't surprising...the nine month part was what threw me for a loop. We ended with discussions of reading and phonics, number counting and her working on things at home (which we're doing and will continue to do). I was very pleased. I hope things continue on the positive front that they're on. Meanwhile, I'm starting to fret about the move my in-laws are making. They will be moving to a town about fifteen minutes north. This means that I will have to get everyone up earlier, in order to get the babe to their new house and me on my way to work on time. Ughh!